10 How To Get Ripped & Build Muscle Tips

You are probably wondering how to get ripped in time to look great for the the upcoming holidays. If you are like many men, you probably put the most emphasis on weight training.

However, this isn’t the only part of your workout that you should be focusing on. If you want to get a hard, ripped look, you also need to focus on your workout warm up as well.

Here are 10 warm up tips help you get ripped and build more muscle!

Tip #1. Fuel Your Workouts

To increase muscle mass, you need to fuel your workouts. Within an hour of working out, consume a protein shake or snack that is high in both carbohydrates and protein. This will give you energy and provide your muscles with the food they need to make it through the workout and to rebuild themselves after.

Tip #2. Warm Up With Cardio

Once you’ve made it down to the gym begin your workout with some light cardio. This will get your metabolism revved up and ready to burn fat, while you are lifting weights. Remember, to get ripped, you also need to decrease your body fat. If you put on ten pounds of muscle, but don’t decrease your body fat, you won’t look ripped and cut; you’ll just look big and bulky.

Tip #3. Boost Your Fat Loss With HIIT.

If you don’t already know what HIIT is, you need to! HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Basically what this is, is alternating periods of low intensity exercise with periods of high intensity exercise. This results in up to 9 times more fat burn than regular cardiovascular exercises that everyone else does, such as running on a treadmill for 45 minutes. When warming up, do between 15 to 20 minutes of HIIT. This will boost your fat loss throughout your workout.

Tip #4. Remember To Breathe!

During pre-workout cardio, always remember to breathe. Limiting your breathing will make the warm-up an anaerobic activity instead of an oxygen-filled aerobic activity. This results in a large build up of lactic acid in your muscles and will greatly hinder your muscle building progress.

Tip #5. Forget Intense Stretching Before Your Workout

OK, now this is a tricky one. I’m not saying don’t stretch at all before you workout. You should definitely stretch your arms and legs to prepare them for the heavy lifting. But you don’t need to do 20 minutes of stretching beforehand, you just want to warm up your muscle not over active them. When you do intense stretching before weight training, you inhibit the efficiency of your Central Nervous System. When this happens your CNS may actually allow your muscles to stretch too far while lifting. However always, always, always remember to stretch after your workouts.

Tip #6. Warm Up Your Legs

When learning how to get ripped, you also need to learn how to warm up your target muscles individually. In order to get your leg muscles ready for an intense leg workout warm them up with some walking lunges and high knee marches. Do two to three sets of 10 walking lunges to warm up your quadriceps and gluteal muscles. March in place, lifting your knees as high as you can, for about two minutes to warm up the glutes, quadriceps, and hips.

Tip #7. Warm Up Your Shoulders and Triceps

Begin warming up your arms by doing arm circles. Rotate your arms forward and backwards, making very large circles, for 3 sets of at least 10 reps.

Tip #8. Loosen Your Arm Muscles

Arm swings are a great way to warm up and loosen the arm muscles. Swing your arms from front to back, for one to two minutes. However, make sure to control your movements. You don’t want to end up injuring yourself before you start.

Tip #9. Get Your Heart Rate Up Between Lifts With A Jump Rope

To keep your heart rate up and your metabolism burning fat, jump rope for a minute or two between lifts. This is a great way to really increase fat loss and get that ripped look much faster.

Tip #10. Get Your Muscles Ready With A Light Set of Reps.

To really warm up your muscles, start each exercise with a set of a few light reps before switching to heavier weights. This muscle building tip really helps to drastically reduce the chance of injury.

When learning how to get ripped, you need to understand how your body works. To get in the best workout, you need to prepare your body to perform. Taking the time to properly warm up your muscles will increase your performance in the gym and help get you ripped in no time.